My Reflection
by iluvaqt
Summary: AU S9E17 "Upgrade". The cool assessing eyes, the impassive expression, he doesn't recognize the face he sees in the mirror.
1. Doomsday

**Title: **My Reflection  
**Author:** iluvaqt  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Spoilers:** Season 9  
**Disclaimer:** All characters belong to the CW & DC Comics.  
**Summary:** Clark has been struggling for a year, he's tired and he's hurting so badly it's almost impossible to bear. The only people who know how to help him, he's alienated. There is only one chance to change things before the world is irrevocably damaged. And that's only if he doesn't get all his friends killed first.  
**Story notes:** This story was inspired by things I've read from Babydee, EllenF and BkWurm1. This hasn't been beta-ed so the mistakes are my own.

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**How it began...**

Clark charged him. Doomsday was stronger, he had shards of green kryptonite bones protruding from his body and just being in close proximity to that made his blood boil but he used his speed to his advantage and clenched his jaw in anticipation of the pain. It didn't matter how many times he was exposed, the memory was never even close to the physical effect. He felt gut clenching pain, waves of nausea and white hot stabbing sensations all over his skin. His blood bubbled in his veins and push against the surface of his skin with a searing relentless ache. It felt as though they'd burst open and he'd bleed out through every pore. The longer he was exposed the less he felt of the world around him. First his hearing, then his sight and finally touch. He'd feel like he was drifting away from his body, like he wasn't connected any more. The pain would still be there but it'd be just like a dull knife stabbing intermittently and his body would have a delayed flinch in response. The torment was unbearable and the longer he was exposed, he began to beg for release, till finally his brain would shut down. And he would welcome the black abyss of unconscious.

This was different though, he could feel his aura tearing away. He crashed through the tower of the geothermal facility and pushed them both through the dig shaft that burrowed deep into the earth's core. He could feel the radiant heat and it gave him the strength to hang on. To make sure that the Beast didn't escape. He held him fast even as he could see every vein in his hand raised and pulsing a sickly green. They were nearing the molten core and his grip slackened. The time that had past would have only been a few seconds, Doomsday didn't have his speed but he knew what was happening and now he was reacting.

Clark could see his head coming. He was going to head butt him. Those red eyes seemed to darken to an almost black blood red and he didn't have the strength to dodge the attack. Something pierced his neck and he felt blood gurgle in his throat. The fist that connected with his chin sent him flying upward with such a speed that when he broke the surface and the building exploded around him, he didn't even feel the chemical heat or crumbling concrete and twisted metal collapse on top of him.

A voice raged in the back of his mind and he felt his aura shimmering again, like it was struggling to hold him together. He didn't care, the boiling was over. The weight on his back felt good. It was probably about a ton of cement but it didn't hurt now that the green k was gone. It felt like someone was enfolding him in a cocoon, pulling him back where he'd feel no more pain and he wouldn't have to fight anymore. He closed his eyes.

When he woke up a cool breeze was hitting him in the face. He blinked and searched his surroundings or what he could see. It felt like he was watching a 3D movie. He didn't have viewer control.

"...Ye thou I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Henry James Olsen. Rest in peace."

Clark heart skipped a beat. _Wait, what? Jimmy's dead? How?_ He stood in frozen shock as he recognized each of the figures surrounding Jimmy's grave. Dinah, Bart, Chloe...

Chloe. He had to go to her. It was his fault Jimmy was dead. He'd charged Jimmy with keeping Chloe and Davis safe. What happened? His feet wouldn't move. He couldn't even move his lips to call out. His heart began to race. Was this a nightmare? Was he still lying under the rubble at the facility unconscious? What was going on?

He watched with an immeasurable ache as the people dispersed slowly and Chloe spoke to Jimmy's little brother. As she was leaving she turned to glance in the direction of the car park. She must be searching for him and it tore him part that he couldn't go to her. Why was he seeing this? It had to be a nightmare, he had to wake up.

Soon Oliver was the only one left and Clark wondered when this torture would end. How could any of this be real? If it were real, he would feel tears on his face because there was no way he could be feeling this much ache inside and not have it leak out. And he would be standing by Chloe no matter how guilty or angry he felt at himself, at all the mistakes they'd made, because that's what a best friend would do and he loved her. He would stand by her. Damn it, why couldn't he move?

He looked up again to see Oliver staring at him. Even through his dark glasses, Clark could see the accusation in his eyes, the hurt and disillusionment. There were things he'd said to Oliver. He'd been very quick to judge, he should never have tried to turn the team against him. Friends didn't do that to each other.

He felt himself sway a little. He was never unsteady on his feet. At least not unless there was kryptonite around. It was the first instance he felt he had any influence over his body at all. Aside from the breeze, he'd been surprised he could feel anything. He didn't want to believe this was real.

A thought came to him that he hadn't even registered until that moment. Where was Lois? If this was real. Lois would have been standing at Chloe's side. Not Dinah. She would have been the one offering her the comforting arm. It wasn't real. _"Where's Lois?"_

_"I couldn't find Lois anywhere. I searched the whole city, x-rayed every building, cleared all the debris from the Beast's rampage myself. She's not here."_

Clark frowned. The words rang as clear as day in his mind but he would remember searching for Lois. He had to see Chloe. He needed answers. He needed to know what happened to Jimmy and where Lois was. Maybe they could hack hospital admissions, maybe scan through police reports. Together they'd be able to find something.

Even before finishing speaking the thought, Clark found himself walking through the tower apartment doors. He'd seen the place just before Jimmy bought it. Jimmy wanted to know as Chloe's best friend, what she'd think of the place. It was a hefty loan amount, but together they'd be able to meet the repayments. Clark thought it was perfect. It felt like Chloe, it was open, bright and full of color. And the view of the city was breathtaking. Zipping through the city he found his eye drifting to it whenever he was on patrol. It stood like a beacon, an old relic that had been forgotten by everyone but was visible as a proud building that stood tall in the heart of the city.

He faltered at the sight of the blood on the floor. There was a lot of blood, it had been mopped but the stain was still dark and deep in the floor. Someone had died here. His heart felt wrong. It just kept up a steady thud, thud in his chest. Almost rhythmic while inside his head he felt like screaming in agony. Jimmy had died here. He knew it as he felt the chill in the air. The life had been sucked out of this place. It felt cold and dull. Jimmy made Chloe smiled. Jimmy made Chloe laugh. How could she stay here without him? They were going to be so happy together. He'd been so sure of it. She'd cried so hard when Jimmy had left her. It had sucker punched him to see her that way and he'd been a coward. He'd let her suffer alone that first night, unable to figure out what to say or how to comfort her, he'd stayed away. He was an idiot and a lousy friend.

"Clark? You're alive."

His head turned as he heard her voice and light quick steps racing down the spiral staircase. She sounded so happy, so relieved. And yet his heartbeat didn't change. Not a hitch or a splatter what was wrong with him? He watched her race to greet him and when she wrapped her arms around him, for a brief second he felt something. His eyelids shuttered and he felt his throat constrict.

_"She is loyal, she deserves a measure of assurance."_

The thought chilled him. It felt so distant, almost clinical.

"How did you survive the geothermal explosion?"

_"That's right, Dinah set the explosives. She was to detonate as soon as I hit the facility. It was the signal. She wasn't supposed to wait. She must have hesitated and when Doomsday sucker punched me, I..."_

"Before Dinah pressed the button...I don't know. I got out before the blast but not fast enough to save anyone else."

Clark frowned and wanted to ball his fists. That's not what he wanted to say damn it. He knew he'd survived the explosion but he'd passed out afterward. He was hoping to fill in the blanks since then. Why was there a operational censor on his mouth?

"Chloe, I've searched everywhere. There's no sign of Lois." His throat was working overtime and his heart was skittering now. He couldn't even look Chloe in the eye properly and finally he felt a little better knowing that his heart and his head where finally in synch. But what had happened to Lois? He hated feeling like he was in limbo, nothing made sense.

"I saw someone tacking her photo on a missing person's board. And I keep thinking that maybe, maybe I haven't..."

Clark watched her tears fall and wanted to hug her again but his arms wouldn't move. He wasn't even holding her arms anymore. His eyes were damp free and he heard his own voice say, "...maybe you haven't lost everyone." He'd finished her sentence without a single croak. His voice was even and it felt so unfeeling to his own ears. He walked way from her then even though it was the last thing he wanted. He had that feeling of being a viewer again. Disconnected from his own body. He beat against that invisible barrier that kept him from being in the driver's seat. What the hell was going on?

"You were there today, Clark. Weren't you? I really needed you. Why didn't you come to me?"

Her voice was softly accusing, hurt and pleading. Why didn't it stir any reaction? He couldn't even voice his frustration at was going on with him. He needed her to understand. He want to comfort her.

"I'm the reason Jimmy's dead. Oliver was right, I put humanity on a pedestal."

_"What? That's not what I said," _Clark argued_. "Okay I thought maybe it was my fault because I asked Jimmy to look after them both but..."_

"_But what," _that other voice sneered._ "It's your fault. I'm going to clean up your mess and I'll do what Father wanted for me from the beginning._"

Chloe looked at him in disbelief and Clark couldn't believe what was happening in his head or what he was saying either.

"It wasn't the Kryptonian beast that killed Jimmy. It was the human."

Clark wanted to punch Kal-El's lights out. He didn't know how it happened but hearing that voice finally allowed him to put the pieces together. The blackout, the missing memories, the feeling of detachment. _"Well at least you got that part right?" _he jeered mentally at his bigot, egotistical, robotic counterpart_._

"I was standing right here, Clark. I know full well who killed Jimmy."

Kal-El had turned away from her. Clark almost laughed at him. She was getting to him. Her raw emotion was on display and she wasn't holding back. Chloe was always so level headed, so together, seeing her this way wasn't fitting the memories Kal-El had prepared himself with.

"This place Chloe. Just get rid of it. Walk away and don't look back."

Clark flinched. He couldn't look at her. He had as good as hit her. It was her last link to Jimmy. His gift to her. _"What are you doing?"_

_"I'm doing what is necessary."  
_

"You don't get it. Clark, Jimmy is here. He's watching over me. He knew me so well. He knew this place would be perfect. Jimmy wanted me to know that no matter where I was in the city I could look up here and see this beacon. The watchtower."

Clark wanted to smile. It was exactly how he saw this place at least before it had been stained. He'd admired Chloe's ability to raise above her pain and suffering, to always see the brighter side, the good in people and make the best of terrible circumstances.

"Now look, Bart, Oliver and Dinah have all disappeared. Maybe it's up to us to bring them back home.

"Home? I don't have a home."

Clark froze. _"What are you talking about? Home is where my family is. Where it's always been. Smallville is home. The old farm house. Shelby..."_

_"Our home was lost years ago. A civilization that destroyed itself with its lust for power. We have a chance to restore it all but you turned your back on your destiny. Well no more."_

"I don't like the way that sounds."

"I've always tried to forget I was an alien. A creature. I've always tried to pretend I was human. I was raised to believe that it was my Kryptonian part that was dangerous, Chloe but they were wrong. It's the human side...it's the side that gets attached. The side that makes decisions based on emotions that's my enemy. Davis proved that to me."

_"I understand my mistakes," _Clark reasoned._ "I won't make them again..."_

_"It's too late. You think I haven't been watching you blunder your way through these last few years? Falling into traps set by our enemies time and again? You never think anything through to its conclusion. You left the Fortress vulnerable to invasion by Lex and the Orb. You let a woman detract you from your duty repeatedly and now she wears a suit that could kill me. You separated the Beast when you should have just trapped the creature in its entirety deep in the earth and perhaps your friend would still be alive. You never do what needs to be done."_

"So because of some psychopath you're gonna cut the rest of us out of your life? Clark? Human emotion is what made you the hero that you are today."

She was on the verge of physically throttling him, he could see it in her posture. She'd fight him to get him to see reason. She wouldn't let this go, but he could feel tension brewing in his body. Kal-El wouldn't let her get through to him. He wanted her to back off and Clark had seen how cold he could be if someone tried to get in his way. He memory of Kal-El shoving his mother to the ground sent a chill through him. He wanted to argue what Kal-El as he'd listed his indiscretions he couldn't find any way to contest his words.

"They're what stopping me from being the hero I could be. It's what the world needs now."

His tone was confident, unwavering and delivered with calculating finality. Clark hung his head in defeat. Maybe he deserved this. Even Raya had been shocked that he hadn't completed his training yet years ago. Kara was younger than him and she'd been prepared to live for eternity in the Phantom Zone to ensure that no one escaped through the portal. If he'd completed his training when Jor-El had instructed so much death and destruction might have been avoided.

"What are you saying?" Chloe asked fear lacing her words.

Clark watched her tear stained face and cried with her in his mind. He feared what was coming next but it didn't matter how much he fought against the way his tongue moved, the words still left his mouth.

"Clark Kent is dead. Goodbye Chloe."

_"Shit, no. You can't do this! Look, if this is about training, I wasn't going to put it off any longer. Doomsday proved that to me. I'd made that decision when I spoke to Rokk. You don't have to do this,"_ Clark yelled and beat against that wall. He could almost feel Kal-El smiling as he walked away from Chloe. Clark dug in his heels and tried to turn back, he wanted to tell her what was happening. She'd find a way to help him.

_"No, she won't. If she doesn't hate you yet, I'll make sure it happens. Don't fight me, Clark. I can allow you some input if you don't fight against me. But if you continue this childish tirade of yours I will ask Jor-El to subdue you entirely. You will be a mute and passive watcher of your own life. Is that what you want?"_

_"I won't let you destroy my friends. My family."_

Kal-El snorted. "I'm the one who will keep them all safe."


	2. Persuasion

**Rating:** PG-13  
**Spoilers:** Season 9  
**Disclaimer:** All characters belong to the CW & DC Comics.  
Thanks to Eklipsed for first round beta of this chapter. I got a little impatient, not a great stretch for me, so I skipped the second round beta on this. If you find any errors they're mine.

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**The steady perversion of heroism**

It was easy to succumb to the feeling of helplessness. He was always in the background, watching, waiting, absorbing information from the AI in the Fortress. Kal-El almost never asked him for his input on anything and rarely addressed him in his thoughts. He was getting the idea slowly of how their connection worked. He could see everything that Kal-El did, but he couldn't read his thoughts and seemingly neither could Kal-El. In a way he appreciated that discovery. It meant he could work on a plan without Kal-El finding out about it, but the action part would be difficult. In the first few weeks, Kal-El didn't rest. He was always training, saving or searching for something. It wasn't until Lois returned that Clark figure out what Kal-El had been searching for.

Seems his alter-ego was more than a little obsessed with his brunette, one-time crush. While he loved Lois, she was loyal, driven, independent and a softie on the inside, he was never fooled by her big appealing eyes and cute exterior. Lois wasn't to be underestimated. If she set her mind to it, Lois could uncover the truth about anything, she was relentless. And sometimes that drive had been used to needle him, he guessed her intent being to shape him out of his naive country boy persona and rid him of his barn moping but instead her baiting always got under he skin and he often found himself wondered whether she liked him or couldn't stand him. He was attracted to her, he'd laugh at any red blooded male who wasn't attached and call him a liar if he said he wasn't. Lois was sexy and beautiful, a rare combination, some women had that feminine confidence but didn't have the poise, elegance and natural good looks to also be considered beautiful. Of course he noticed her, but he also wanted to throttle her 90% of time they were together. At least that was how he remembered their relationship. With Kal-El, she was all smiles and sweetness. Clark remembered her chipping away at his confidence as a friend, and as a journalist. She also had a penchant for getting herself in hot water. She got herself into trouble more regularly than Lana ever did and that was saying a lot. He couldn't go eight hours at time without Lois putting herself in some death beckoning situation.

Kal-El seemed to enjoy playing her hero however, but at least he had the sense not to let her in on their secret. His run in with Linda Lake had given Kal-El enough insight not traverse that same path. Accidentally getting drawn into Lois' memories of the future didn't help his obsession either. Six dozen red roses? They weren't made of money and one dozen would have been enough. He was definitely fishing to get in her pants again. Clark reddened at the memory. The whole time he felt dirty. It was a forced case of voyeurism. He shivered. If he ever got out of this situation he was going to have trouble looking Lois in the eye without blushing.

Kal-El was reckless and heavy handed and Clark told him so repeatedly. It seems if it was something Kal-El did in the name of justice, it didn't matter how battered or beaten the perps ended up, so long as the crisis was solved. After the incident where the AI had given them temporary telepathic ability, after he'd put an innocent man in hospital, he tried to point out that Kal-El could improve his approach. The warning had gone unheeded. If anything, he just go more blasé about it. It was like Kal-El was taking pointers from Batman on how to deal with crime. They'd run into the Bat once while traveling the country. Kal-El liked to keep busy. He followed the night for days at a time, only breaking for more training or to soak in midday sunlight to recharge. He wanted to point out that Metropolis wasn't Gotham and Batman wasn't even metahuman, he couldn't crush someone's bones to dust with one squeeze but as usual it was like talking to himself literally. Restraint was an obligation, his parents had taught him that from childhood. It wasn't something you could shrug off just because you felt like letting off steam. Kal-El could use super-speed all the time and tap people on the side of the head to render them unconscious but no, his Kryptonian alter-ego liked to be fancy, showing off his perfect throwing arm, and hit a guy on the back of the head with a full can of chili beans, possibly giving him permanent brain damage.

Also since when was defacing public and private property above the law? Clark shook his head at that. While he was proud to wear the sigil of their family leaving his mark all over the city wasn't heroic, it was vandalism and a flag for credit. He had protected the people of Metropolis as the Red Blue Blur and he did it without the intention of getting recognition or thanks. He'd learned his lesson from Lake. He had an identity and loved ones to protect. As much as people loved heroes and their intent, there were just as many, definitely more dangerous ones out there that wanted to cage them or put them down.

Clark watched and cringed as Kal-El dangled people off rooftops, punched people hard enough to break bones, strangled so tightly that a fraction tighter and there would be crushed larynx. He'd scared Tess himself before to get information about Lana, but he'd pinned her the wall to hold her there, not to cut off her oxygen supply. Tess was dangerous, yet he realized early on that she had an devotee's obsession with him. He knew it could turn on him if he pushed her, which is why he kept a close eye on her. But what Kal-El was doing at every turn was giving her every reason to hand him over to his enemies. She knew everything about him and she knew how to hurt him.

_"That's good. It's good that you're embracing your Kryptonian side. There isn't really anything human left in you."_

Clark felt the cut as raw as she'd driven a knife right into his chest when Chloe said those words to Kal-El. True, he deserved them for what Kal-El had said to her before he'd walked away, and for seeming so indifferent to her pain when she talked to him about Jimmy and their mistakes. But as much as he wanted to take away her pain, he agreed with Kal-El's answer. He'd sacrificed more than he was willing to risk ever again by changing the past before. He knew she was hurting and he'd give almost anything to restore all that she'd lost but even if he had been in control he wouldn't have done what she asked. It wasn't even her tone and icy words hadn't hurt him the most. It was the way she'd looked at him and not seen him. Like he was a stranger to her. Worse, someone that she despised. While Chloe seemed to have forgiven him for not giving into her one plea, and always tried to move things into more familiar territory for them, how things used to be, Kal-El always shut her out. Instead he continued to use her as a source of information or necessity and nothing more.

Kal-El's smug face in the mirror taunted him. He enjoyed seeing her hurt and defeated expression and the fact that Chloe wouldn't bother with him anymore. Too bad the idiot didn't know her well enough. Chloe might have given up on their friendship, but she didn't give up protecting him or trying to help him be a better hero. She made it her business to keep all of them in line. To rally them to the cause, keep tabs on them, scour every outlet of information she could get her hands on. Without their friendship to keep her in check, she became a one-woman crusade to protect her heroes and the world from any possible threat.

In the end Kal-El realized that while he thought she was invasive, annoyingly persistent, she was invaluable in helping the Kandorians assimilate. So he kept her in the loop, he visited the Watchtower and occasionally answered or returned her calls in person. Chloe had done her best to help Jor-El too. Clark was intensely grateful that he had that much to learn about his father. Watching the video of them talk about his life, Clark felt a sharp pang of nostalgia. He'd done the same for Chloe once when he realized that Moira didn't have a lot of time left.

Whatever had brought Kal-El to the surface again, possibly the black kryptonite that the Doomsday had absorbed, it was different to when Jor-El had brainwashed him years ago. The longer that Kal-El was in control, the less it felt like he was the only one steering. Sometimes Clark felt that if he felt strongly enough about something, he could push against that wall holding him back. He didn't know how much influence he had over his Kryptonian other-half but he could feel every emotion that his alter-ego had. He could tell when he was angry, afraid, when he was happy or satisfied with himself, when he felt pain and even on the rare occasion, when he felt guilty.

_"Thanks Chloe, you're a life saver."_

_"If by that you mean, sweet on the outside and empty in the middle then yeah. That's pretty much exactly how I feel right now."_

The words Kal-El had uttered he'd said out of a sense of propriety. He wanted to keep her on side but at arms length. Just happy enough to continue doing what she was doing for him but not any closer. Clark had itched to hit him. He kept flaunting her commitment. Chloe deserved so much more. His abuse was sickening, he treated her like an ATM machine: get what you came for and leave.

It was the third time he'd felt like he had any influence over Kal-El. He'd managed to illicit a small pang of guilt, before Kal-El had reacted coldly to her validated concerns. Effectively cutting any further conversation in its track, unwittingly leaving chaos in his wake. The second time he'd felt like he was in tune with what Kal-El was feeling had been when he'd discovered Alia wearing his father's watch. He'd felt outrage. Why on earth would he ever give some ninja that seemed so cavalier about the value of life, what he considered the only tangible link he had to his father? A reminder of who he needed to be. Kal-El respected Jonathan. He saw it in his actions when he refused to sell the farm when it was obvious he had no interest in running it. Instead continued to lease the land to Hubbard and regularly visited to look after Shelby.

He wanted to tell Chloe he was sorry for everything that had happened between them. Kal-El's self interest and neglect of her, for forcing things to remain on a professional and detached level when it was obvious she was still hurting and trying to reach out to him. Clark realized that it was a moment of weakness and desperation that had led her to even brooch the subject of altering the timeline with him. She saw that Kal-El was devoted to Lois, that he'd be confiding in her. He'd given her no reason to believe that he'd ever come to her again and she felt truly alone. Of course she wanted Jimmy back. The man had died saving her. He loved her. She wanted to feel loved and needed.

The fact that Kal-El continued to think he could get Zod to come around was driving Clark crazy. He realized that he was trying to work at helping them so bad because he wanted to feel like he belonged. They'd welcomed him into their circle, he wanted to prove his loyalty, he wanted them to become his family. Zod and Jor-El had been close friends before Zod had turned on everyone. His father's dying wish had be to save Zod. That was an enormous motivator for Kal-El. He was the dutiful son above all else.

It wasn't until the last moment and it became glaringly obvious that even Kal-El couldn't ignore it, that he'd decided to do something. Something monumentally stupid and reckless. The most reckless thing he'd done yet. He took out the towers like a terrorist bomber. There had been no consultation of safe demolition schematics or demolition experts. He hadn't even asked the AI on how best to destroy the tower. He'd just targeted the main power storage redistribution units for the biggest explosive effect and blown it all sky high. Kal-El had stood there watching it burn and crumble only moving at the last possible second before one of the spires hit the street below.

Clark felt his anger over Alia's betrayal and Zod's manipulations, but that didn't justify his careless disregard for the safety of innocent lives. The streets below were full of tv crews, print journalists and curious passers by. It was R.O.A's final press conference prior to the launch of the towers operational unveiling. He'd endangered hundreds if not thousands of people with his actions.

If it weren't for the yelling and the mental battering he'd given Kal-El, Clark wondered if he'd have bothered putting the fire out at all. He'd certainly let it burn for long enough, pretending to focus on removing rubble from the street and ferrying people who had been injured by falling, burning debris to hospital. Fire crew had been battling the blaze for four hours before he put it out. The heat so intense that they couldn't move get within a hundred feet of the building to check for anyone who might be trapped inside. Thankfully Kal-El had had enough sense to scan the building first. Clark felt a little relief over the fact that one had gotten killed. He'd noticed that Oliver and Bart had both arrived to help out within a few minutes of the building going up. Neither of them approached him though. Clark could only imagine what they'd been thinking. Chloe wasn't so restrained in her assessment. Kal-El had just about told her where to put her concerns, but he'd held back. Thankfully. His alter-ego hadn't be in the mood for a lecture. He was feeling bitter and jaded. Kal-El didn't know where things stood between himself and Zod, but he seemed hopeful that the friendships he'd formed with the other Kandorians would help smooth things over.

Clark felt a weariness fall over him. He never felt more alone. While he felt he understood the link between them, he never felt more helpless. Kal-El was a loose canon. He had no rival, no one to keep him in check, no respect for fellow heroes and his moral compass seemed to blow with the wind. He kept hoping his friends would notice there was something amiss and stage an intervention but it never came. Either they were afraid of him or they just didn't care and Clark refused to accept the latter. Chloe would always care. They'd been through too much together, but he could see that once unshakable friendship crumbling. With everything Kal-El did the divide between them grew. There would come a day where they would stand on opposite sides of the field and Clark thought back to Lois' memory of future-Chloe. The hardened calculating leader of the human resistance. If Kal-El continued to let Zod and his followers pursue their quest to restore their powers, the war would come. And as much as he wanted to believe that Kal-El would chose to protect Earth from an alien dictatorship, he was afraid his alter-ego's desire for brotherhood would blind him and in the end when he finally saw the truth, it would be too little, too late.


	3. Upgrade

**Notes:** Thank you to sxymami0909 (Corina) for the super-quick turn around beta of this chapter. :)

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**Just when you think all hope is lost, you'll find the light**

Lois was familiar. Lois was safe. After watching Kal-El second guess his intentions of pursuing Lois, saving her, confiding in her as the Blur, almost becoming two completely separate people, which should have been impossible considering they were already sharing head-space, Clark was finally beginning to understand his choices.

It wasn't that Kal-El was unfeeling. He chose his confidants differently to how Clark would choose to ally himself. Kal-El formed alliances based on the greater need, not out of loyalty. His liaisons with Chloe and Oliver and the rest of the League were purely out of a sense of duty to the mission, nothing more. He spared no time for friendship or niceties. What little time Kal-El allowed himself was devoted to keeping up his human identity, earning a paycheck and Lois.

Lois had cared for Kal-El that spring long ago, when she'd found him naked in a cornfield. She'd acted fearless confronted with an amnesiac psycho, for all she knew, and she took him under her wing. Taking him to the hospital, she ensured he got proper attention. Kal-El admired her strength, her beauty but most of all her fearless heart. She never turned her back on a person in need, no matter their circumstance or past indiscretions.

Lois also didn't press for answers. A simple agreement and secrets were okay between them. She wasn't invasive and for a reporter, Kal-El found that remarkable.

When he'd questioned Kal-El over why Lois. He'd also brought up the memory of Wes Kennan. Even after it was obvious that the man was programmed to kill her she refused to give up on him.

Clark tried to reason with Kal-El that Chloe was just as loyal and fearless, if not more so. She'd faced down metahumans and aliens to protect him for years, even died to save him. Yet Kal-El treated Lois as his queen, and Chloe like his pawn.

Kal-El didn't argue his points, nor did he even dignify Clark's reasoning with acknowledgment. However the one vibe Clark did get chilled him into silence. He felt bitter anger, just a touch before it was quickly buried. Kal-El felt a measure of bitterness in regards to Chloe. But for what, Clark couldn't begin to understand.

Clark cringed inwardly as Kal-El loomed over Lois as she slept. He invited himself into her apartment. Into her bed. While Clark couldn't argue that he'd over stepped the boundaries of common decency and etiquette before, barging in on Chloe uninvited and unannounced countless times over the years, he was pretty sure what Kal-El was doing right now constituted stalker behavior.

He hadn't exchanged more than a handful of words with Lois in two weeks. Both of them were busy with their respective jobs. Ever since they'd gotten back from their weekend away, which turned out a bust for Kal-El and a win for Clark. Lois had been pulling away from him, being more and more secretive and illusive. Clark thought it was karma for both of them. Kal-El was a bad guy, he didn't deserve someone like Lois, heck or anyone decent.

And Clark, well considering what he was inadvertently doing to his friends, he felt he didn't deserve any happiness either but at least he wouldn't have to suffer Lois' melting smiles but deer in headlights expressions.

She was as afraid of intimacy as he was. It's why she kept babbling on if ever the silence got a little too comfortable and the lingering looks a little too heated. Kal-El and Lois had never shared a kiss for more than two minutes without her either breaking away or passing out. To Clark it was a sign. If you couldn't feel comfortable with the person you supposedly loved, if you couldn't share your secrets and burdens with each other than you both deserved better.

Or maybe you just weren't ready to share yourself at all. He knew that losing Lana to Lex's manipulations had hurt deep. He'd always felt something for Lois, ever since he found her in his driveway, practically living out of her car. He'd never really had the time or care to explore just what he felt and by the time he realized he'd let her under his skin, he was calling her as the Red Blue Blur.

Studying her over their desks a little longer then what was considered platonic interest and agreeing to a date. If that didn't spell rebound, he didn't know a better term for it. He had been lonely. Lois was fun, in a masochistic kind of way. She kept him on his toes, reminded him of what was important. Didn't let him lose himself to his self pity, like he'd often indulged in over the years. But was he in love with her? Not a chance.

Kal-El dotted kisses along her shoulder and Clark forced himself to feel anything but in tune with Kal-El at that moment. So far, Lois had put the breaks on before things had ever gotten past second base. If this was about to turn into another raunch-fest, where he was stuck in the third person viewing seat, he just might find a meteor rock to beat himself over the head with. If Kal-El ever took a break. The only time he slept was when he was in bed next to Lois. Every other day he was awake, 24/7, rain, hail, sunshine or moonlight.

The most frustrating think for Clark was the waiting. He never had enough time to put his plan into effect without Kal-El noticing something was up. The first time Kal-El had slept over at the Talon, Clark had tried making a video to send to Chloe from Lois' phone. He didn't use his own phone because he didn't want Kal-El finding any trace of it. He'd just gotten out of bed, found Lois' phone where it had fallen under the couch and was in the process of figuring out how to activate the video feature when he felt control slipping. He stretched, but he didn't stretch. He threw Lois phone onto the coffee table and sped back to the bed, managing to flop down just as Kal-El woke up and opened his eyes.

Clark felt his confusion and watched as Kal-El looked out to the living room at the coffee table. For one second Clark thought he'd been made and wondered if the next second the interrogation would start, but Kal-El rubbed a hand through his hair and merely swung his legs over the edge of the bed and went to the kitchen for a glass of water. He didn't sleep again that night.

The second time Kal-El had slept was after he'd taken down the towers. Considering all the weirdness, shocks and traumas that had gone on that day and the night before, Clark wasn't surprised. Kal-El had made a royal mess of everything and Clark was determined to fight to fix things. Too bad his alter-ego didn't enjoy sleep as much as he used to.

His mom used to joke that for someone who had super-speed and could lift a ten ton truck like it was a tennis ball, he was slower than molasses at getting out of bed and ready for the day. It was his dreams that kept him buried under the covers. Dreams where there weren't any problems that needed solving, no dangers that needed to be averted. All his desires were fulfilled, he didn't have the mantle of savior that Jor-El was so eager for him to carry, and he didn't have to worry about anyone wanting to put him in a cage and experiment on him. He was just a normal guy, with modest hopes, a family who loved him, a place to call home and a blonde-haired angel who brought his wildest fantasies to life.

Only said angel looked like a spit fire right now and was wielding a small box like a weapon.

"So help me Clark, go home. I know you're probably in your right mind, or as right as you want it to be for now but I'm tired. And unless you want me to tell you all the reasons why I think you need a serious refresher from the hero manual, you might want to zip back out that door. I've got a hell of a lot to do to get Watchtower up and running before Oliver gets back from Star City, so please. Just go."

"Chloe, I really need you to..."

"Save it, Clark. Maybe tomorrow when I'm not so..." He watched her fist coil in anger beside her keyboard. She narrowed her eyes at him. "You know before I could understand, even related a little but what you did tonight. You endangered the city, Clark. You did things your way like you always do. You didn't think to consult anyone else, you didn't think about the consequences and people got hurt. When did it become okay for you to risk innocent lives? I told you once that if it meant saving the world that I'd hope you'd made the right choice. I meant for me, Clark. I know the deal, I can accept the cost, they didn't even get the choice. People could have died out there, because of a rash decision you made. You had months to stop this from happening, but instead you were too busy trying to be best buds with Zod refusing to see his end game that's been staring you in the face all along."

Clark hung his head. He felt every word of her argument. He'd had this same argument with Kal-El. It was like talking to a brick wall. He just needed her to understand, to listen for one minute. There was a stirring inside him and his eyes widened in horror. He was out of time. Not now, he pleaded hopelessly. He was so close.

"Chloe, it's not me. You have to stop me...I..."

Chloe sighed wearily. "Clark. Silver K, I know. You whammied Lois into Stepford Lois, you got me to fry Watchtower and you turned Emil into a drunk sloth, who knows what you did with Tess but I used the Green K on you. I saw you shake it off. There was none of that pixie dust in your system when you decided to blow up the solar towers. That's all on you."

He felt the stirring again and he knew he had to leave. He couldn't risk Kal-El waking up to discover what he'd been doing. He couldn't afford to let him put his guard up. He'd never get a another chance if that happened. With one last forlorn look at her disappointed face, he blurred out of her apartment and back to the farm. Lois was asleep in his old bedroom, which now served as the guest room, since Kara moved out and he took up residence in his parents old room. Blurring out of his clothes and back into the boxers and t-shirt Kal-El had been wearing, he slid under the covers just as Kal-El turned over in his sleep.

He had to suffer three more weeks of torture watching Kal-El twist his old life almost beyond recognition before something truly terrifying happened. Kal-El was growing more concerned over Lois' secrets and fearing for her safety, due to her banged up state and her lack of memory, he asked Chloe to investigate what she's been up to the night before. Just like always, Kal-El never thanked Chloe for her help, or asked her to dig up more information on his hunch. He just blazed on a head without a second thought.

In hindsight, Clark remembered the days when he'd done exactly the same thing. Only he'd thanked Chloe for her help and told her to stay behind and out of trouble. Experience had told him to be more cautious, investigate a little more at a distance first. Use one of the many tools in his biological arsenal before using brawn and speed first. Obviously, Kal-El had learned everything Jor-El had taught him but chose to ignore everything Clark had learned from personal experience or he thought he could pick and chose what to take on board. Clark sighed. It was karma again. He'd done the same thing with the AI for years too.

Upon entering the lab he felt the familiar rush of adrenaline that accompanied red K infection course through his body. More to the point, Kal-El's body. Clark felt his thoughts freeze like the life blood had been sucked out of him.

"Tess is refining meteor rocks. And she wanted to convince me that she was different from Lex. That she could be trusted. That she could be my ally?" Clark felt Kal-El snort. "She's no different, just better at covering her tracks. Lucky I've upped the anti since then, huh Clark. Primitive Earth technology still has its uses."

Kal-El zipped into Watchtower and not finding Chloe right away, input his access code and started keying in his desired search parameters into one of the three satellites that Queen Industries and LuthorCorp shared access to. He had barely been working five minutes when he discovered the stockpiles of meteor rock concentrated in densely populated areas of the country. And that was only the satellite imaging of North America. Lex never thought small and he doubted Tess would either. Kal-El was practically vibrating with anger at her duplicity. Clark was afraid, who knew what a global thermo-radiative scan would reveal.

Only Kal-El had suspected the wrong culprit and so had Clark. In the same instant that Chloe revealed her secret to him, he felt both proud, but afraid for himself and for her. For what he'd driven her to do, what the situation with Zod had forced her to prepare for. He'd seen the future. The future Lois had experienced. If it weren't for Chloe's resistance fighters, he and Lois would have died and there would have been no one to oppose Zod and his people from total dominance of the planet.

Kal-El didn't understand Chloe's priorities, where her heart lay. The heartbreaking decisions she was forced to make because of what she knew. Because she knew his secret, because of the role she'd taken as protector and hero. She would always put herself between danger and the innocent. She would sacrifice her heart, her life, for what she believed in. Even if it meant standing between him, the man she'd once considered her best friend, and the world.

Kal-El didn't understand her concerns and already the relationship he had with her was tentative on his part at best. He didn't trust her and her presence in his affairs seemed to be a constant source of frustration to him. Only the instances where information she provided had proved valuable and the fact that Clark had such strong memories and feelings for her was what kept him from coldly cutting her out of his life completely.

In this instance, Chloe proved that Kal-El's fears were founded. She was a danger to him and the Kandorians. Clark felt Kal-El's racing pulse, he could feel his anger and he wished he could yell at Chloe to grab the box of kryptonite she kept hidden in the false bottom drawer of her desk. He knew it was there because of the time she'd reached for it when he'd come to visit her that one desperate night after the Towers had burned.

She'd never make it though. Kal-El wasn't going to let her move. Clark felt the force he'd hit her with and he flinched, his thoughts burning. He roared in anger and punched against that wall in his mind.

_"Touch her again and I'll make your life a living hell,"_ he roared. _"After all you've done. How easily you lose control, how carelessly you treat human life, she's right to do this. You're lucky she hasn't shot you full of green K and locked you in a kryptonite cell until you either give up your powers or submit to reprogramming."_

Kal-El sneered down at Chloe as she landed awkward, refusing to show weakness but obviously hurt from how hard he'd struck out at her. She peered up at him with pleading wide eyes, and inched back very slowly as he advanced on her. She flinched at his grating threatening tone and piercing blazing eyes.

"I was a fool to think that you could ever understand me. You think you're better than Tess? At least she didn't pretend to be on my side all those years."

"Clark why don't you hear my side. I mean what if some day there was ever a war?"

"There is a war Chloe. Right now. And you're about the lose it."

Clark felt Kal-El's head turning and eyes heating. He screamed again. _"I'll find a way to destroy you. Don't do it!"_

Gripped in a fear like he'd never known, he watch Kal-El scorch part of Watchtower's domed roof with his family's symbol and finally allowed himself to stop panicking. Chloe was still alive. She was safe. For the moment. His thoughts where a mess. He knew if he was actually in control right now he would have collapsed to his knees in relief and despair at the fragile irreversible nature of the situation he was in. If he thought his friendship with Chloe was turbulent and strained before, it was as good as dead now. How could she ever trust him again, feel safe around him, let alone consider him a friend. And from the determined posture and the cruel smirk Kal-El had given Chloe, Clark knew that Kal-El's vendetta to obliterate her defenses were far from over. He was just getting warmed up. This needed to stop. As a teenager running around drugged up he'd been less dangerous. Kal-El on Red K. Heaven have mercy on whoever tried to get in his way.

Kal-El sped across the city. Metropolis was the closest and most convenient target. It made sense to take care of it first. He x-rayed the truck and saw movement inside, along with rows of shelves, stocked with glowing green jars. The man's back was turned. He'd let him climb out before he blew the truck sky high. After all, he could be innocent. Just a lackey that Chloe hired to move her stockpile around. Or it could be Oliver.

Kal-El sneered at the thought. He hadn't seen the blond boy wonder around for the last week. He liked him even less than Chloe right now. On his own he liked Oliver fine. He was a decent guy, when he wasn't self pitying or drunk. He had neat gadgets and he wasn't badly skilled for a human. But with Chloe; together there was nothing to like about them. They didn't have secrets keeping them apart. They stood shoulder to shoulder, metaphorically speaking. They were a dangerous combination; knowledge, money, and power. If they continued to grow in strength, they'd be an unstoppable force.

The truck doors flew open and Kal-El stumbled. John Corben. He was supposed to be dead.  
_  
"Not so dead,"_ Clark mused. _"These guys have a way of resurrecting at the worst times. Or not."_ There was something about his expression that had Clark feeling curious instead of concerned. The guy had a green K heart. He should be yelling for Kal-El to run fast in the other direction. Not silently wishing for him to fall forward instead of crawl back.

Before either of them had a chance to remark any further someone ignited the truck and it exploded, engulfing Corben in flames.

Zod swooped down and landed in front of him. He smiled cautiously, challengingly before zipping away.

_"He has powers."_

Clark felt Kal-El smile and while his own thoughts were riddled with fear. He knew Kal-El intended to follow him but his knees buckled and he was confused. His vision blurred for a second as he felt the familiar wave of pain that accompanied green K exposure and wondered if Chloe had tracked him down. He caught sight of a familiar face, concern and remorse on plain in her expression, her layered blonde locks falling about her jaw as she leaned in close.

"Kal, I'm sorry but there is no other way in our time to subdue you." Touching his shoulder, she closed her eyes and they disappeared in a burst of light.

Kal-El fell forward and lifted his head with difficulty as Imra left the glowing rock at his feet. "Why are you doing this? Where did you take me?"

"This is the future, Kal-El. This is what has become of your home. We were lost in time for awhile looking for Rokk when he went back to warn you about Doomsday. All of the Legion are scattered. The ring's time-dilation field stopped us from fading away and we remember our reality. It pains me greatly to know all that we lost but we can change it. We can save our future."

"What give you the right? I thought the Legion had a code against altering the time-line?"

"It's already been changed," Rokk growled in frustration and he balled his hands into fists. Imra gave him a look and he seemed to cool almost instantaneously. "Everything changed when Brianiac took Kara back to Krypton. His was the first rift in time stream. By impersonating Kara when he returned, he infected Chloe which in turn lead her to become entangled with the Beast and allowed her to be taken as a host. We thought we'd preserved the future when we stopped the Persuader. Truth is, it had changed long before that and the rift created a completely new reality when you used black kryptonite on Doomsday. Infecting him with the radiation caused him to absorb it into his ever-mutating DNA. When you fought him, you were affected."

"That's not true. I haven't split. I'm completely in control."

"No, you're not. Years ago your personality was manipulated when an AI brainwashed you into a mindless drone to do his bidding. It was fractured and stored in the subconscious part of your mind when Martha Kent exposed you to black kryptonite the first time. The radiation from Doomsday fused those fractured pieces together," Imra reasoned gently, her blue eyes wide with empathy for his pain.

"No..." Another wave of nausea ripped through his body. He couldn't think with that green K almost shoved right up his nose. "Please, the rock, it's..."

A green man with large pink eyes appeared from behind Rokk. "It's not potent enough in concentration to be instantly lethal. Exposure for days, roughly 56 hours would cause coma, another 8 hours before death. Ten more minutes will leave you with a mild headache for a few seconds but the rock is no longer necessary, Imra. You can take it away now."

"Are you sure, Rokk said that he was infected and..."

The iris-less male, cocked his head to one side and studied him for a nano-second. "It has been purged," the alien countered.

Kal-El stood slowly and wiped the sweat from his brow as the hideous rock was put away in a lead lined box.

"Retract shields," Rokk said.

Instantly Kal-El was bathed in a reddish glow and he felt sluggish, like he hadn't slept in years. Only he never really needed to. The only memories he had of feeling tired were from Clark's memories. He refused to believe that he was merely a fracture, a construct created by Jor-El for a specific duty and nothing more.

"I'm not a sub-personality. I have memories too. Ones that are stronger, more important and pre-date the human ones that people seem to hold in such high regard and constantly want to push on me."

Imra touched fingertips to her temple. "Memories of your mother, Lara. The lullabies she used to sing to you, how her hair glows like Earth's sun. Jor-El shedding tears over you as he put you into your space ship? They are implants," Imra said bitterly.

"Implants?" Kal-El roared. "To what end?"

"Look outside, Kal. This is the world that we live in," Rokk said.

And for the first time Kal-El turned and studied the world on the other side of the window. There were relics of what once must have been skyscrapers. The lane ways were nothing but cracked chunks of tarmac. Dust storms ragged outside and in the sky, where it wasn't partially obscured by angry clouds was a ruby red sun.

In the distance there was a hologram. It pulsed and sun on the horizon. It was the Kandorian symbol.

"The war between the resistance and Zod's army obliterated humans trust of anything alien. War lead to feminine which lead to more war. Civilization robbed the planet of everything it had left to offer. The remaining Kandorians found a way to convert the sun's radiation to mirror that of their home planet's red sun. Earth isn't Krypton. Nature couldn't survive under the new radiation. Skin stripping solar winds, tidal waves, scorching heat during the day and sub-zero temperatures at night. Those who could leave, have left. The rest of us. It's a daily struggle for survival. It took us this long to figure it all out because we were all separated."

"One good thing did come out of this mess, however," the green man said with a smile. It was the first expression he'd displayed since entering the room and on his impassive face it felt a little foreboding.

"If you hadn't insisted we save Chloe, we wouldn't have Brainiac 5," Rokk said with a smirk.

Kal-El's eyes widened and he took a cautionary step back.

"Brainy's harmless," Imra said raising her hands in a supportive gesture.

"And we wouldn't have been able to pinpoint the exact moment to strike so that you'd do the least amount of damage to your team mates, but still know enough to be able to make the right choices this time around," Rokk added.

Brainiac 5's fingers extended like tentacles and went straight through his protective aura and into his skull. He screamed as knife like pain ripped through his skull and he blacked out.

Clark had watched silently, waiting for the right moment to appeal to his friends. He knew he could reach out to Imra but he didn't want to tip Kal-El off at all. Things were on shaky enough ground already. But he heard her speak to him when she looked at Kal-El.

_"I feel your pain, Clark. It will be over soon."_

He sat up and tested his limbs, before grinning widely. For the first time in what felt like forever he didn't feel like something was sitting on the fringes waiting to take back control in a breath's notice. He was free. He saw Imra get up from her chair across the room and she beamed the most lovely smile at him.

"He's awake."

Rokk laughed. "I was beginning to think you'd sleep a week. Times not really a factor for you, but for us. Well we've been waiting what feels like an eternity to go back home."

Clark's smile fell. "I'm sorry I made so many mistakes."

"It's not all your fault, Clark. You can't possibly expect to have all the answers and make all the right choices, all the time," Imra said gently while touching his shoulder.

Clark slid to the edge of the bed and stood up. "So Brainaic 5, huh? What did he do exactly?"

"Undid the programming in your head permanently. And this, he said was to fix the Fortress," Rokk said handing Clark a crystal.

"Why does the Fortress need fixing?"

"Because when you asked the AI to remove Brainiac from your friend's mind, it infected to Fortress. It's how the fracture was able to overrule your personality long after the effects of the radiation were gone. Brainiac has been gathering strength, manipulating the flow of information you are learning from the databanks, twisting the course of the future through your training and your consequent choices. Getting you to dissolve your ties to humanity, strengthening your desire for brotherhood with the Kandorians, the ones who Jor-El himself considered an abomination and refused to create under orders from the Council. He believed they couldn't recreate the soul. That using science in that manner was perverse and against the natural order of the universe. Brainiac's sole function was the preservation of Krypton. To him, Kandor is Krypton. Humans stand in the way of Krypton being restored. He will do whatever it takes to see his plan succeed, and he will use every pawn at his disposal. You were the perfect pawn," Brainy said simply.

Clark balked at the magnitude of what he'd just heard. "How can I stop him?"

Rokk shrugged. "It won't be easy, but you're not alone, Clark. Imra and I will be there. After all, we don't have any rings to spare this time, so we're your ride through the time stream. And this time, we really, really want a future we're welcome to come home to."

Imra gestured to the chair by the bed. "Before we go, I thought you might like a change of clothes."

Clark turned to see what she was referring to and felt the edges of his lips tug into a grin.

She tucked her hair behind her ear and waved her hand at the colorful wardrobe choice. "What can I say, we had to salvage something from the glory days, and Garth's going to appreciate my efforts when we find each other again."

Rokk rolled his eyes. "You indulge him way too much, Imra."

Clark noticed her blush and recognized the signs of affection in her face. "If I don't set things right. You have my permission to come back and kick me into line."

Imra smiled and nodded. "Thanks Kal, but I have faith in you."


	4. Consequences

**Notes:** Thank you to sxymami0909 (Corina) for doing a beta for me. Only thing I discovered after I got it back was that I was missing the first scene. :P So I added that back in myself. If there are errors and it reads terribly, that's all me! Sorry.

* * *

When Lois arranged for one 'John Corben' to meet Dr. Vale, the military's foremost specialist in biological cybernetics, Tess' operatives had no trouble tracking them down. She all ready had security working to track down Lois' car before she got the new intel. Armed with the knowledge of the direction she was headed. It narrowed their search field down considerably.

While Tess had been coordinating her team by phone, Chloe had been working her own leads to track down Clark. Considering how angry he was when he'd discovered the kryptonite weapons, Chloe knew it was a sure bet he'd be after them first. Working through remote camera footage, she noted that three of her sites were down; Portland, Metropolis and Los Angeles. Winding back the earliest recording she saw Clark and Zod together outside the flaming truck of refined meteor rock. A few yards over, the other containers hidden at the docks are also on fire.

Chloe straightened and enhanced the freeze frame of the two men for Tess to see. There was an obvious tail blur behind Zod in the footage. Eying her pointedly, she tried to keep her voice even. "Guess who's coming to dinner. Together. With powers. But you already knew that didn't you?" Chloe didn't miss the almost eye-roll look on Tess' face. Inwardly she was seething. She hated playing catch up. This wasn't something she could afford to be in the dark about. She didn't want to admit it but Lois certainly one upped her with keeping tabs on Tess.

"What I don't know is why the sudden bromance?"

"Clark uncensored is easy to read. He thinks I've betrayed him so he's doing exactly what you would do Tess. The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

Chloe pulled up another screen and she jumped slightly when she heard a door slam.

"We'll here's my soldier of fortune. Do we send him to stop your wayward child or mine? If we let them keep this up, it won't be long before we have Checkmate breathing down all our necks."

Chloe looked Corben over. His eyes were vacant and he had a rigid posture. She knew he was mostly synthetic, like Victor, his vital organs had been replaced from the files she'd read. He was a blend of cybernetics and bionics. They'd implanted a control chip in his brain and replaced his eyes with multi-functional cameras. Thermal, biometric, infrared, night vision. And while he wasn't self-sustaining yet, they'd been in the process of upgrading his heart when he escaped, he had an inbuilt tracking device that lead him to the closest meteorite source. Considering he'd been in the truck when it had exploded, Chloe thought it was safe to assume that he was pretty hardy. Maybe even unstoppable as long as the artificial heart was in place.

"Does he respond to verbal or uploaded commands?" she asked.

Tess shrugged slightly. "Both. You can make specific mission parameters or simple ones and let him decide how to put those finely honed military skills of his to good use. For example, just so you know not to bother tinkering with it, his first non-rewrite-able code? My protection."

Chloe did her best to ignore the smug angle of Tess' mouth. "Use your own man against you? I'm touched that you think I'm as masterfully underhanded as you Tess. Don't worry, I only want his help staging an intervention. Clark would see me coming a mile off, I'd never get close enough."

Tess handed her a Wi-Fi stick. "The key is WGAD-5566-TS12."

Chloe plugged in the stick into the keyboard and put her hand in her pocket. While she ran the program on the screen, she created a mirror of the data stream with her phone. Her brain held onto codes like a vault, she shouldn't have much trouble remembering a 12-bit key. Ever since Brainiac had been ripped from her body, she didn't have the digital hacking or processing skills like before, but she wasn't too far behind either. Having him rewrite her synapses twice had left an imprint. Using those memories daily only strengthened the ability to apply the knowledge she'd learned. Typing in a reduced window, she input her instructions and closed out to a geographic map.

She had a hunch that after destroying the stockpiles together, the next thing on Clark's agenda would do would be show off his cave. Fearful of what Clark might reveal at the Fortress, Chloe sent John ahead, knowing with his bionic legs, he'll be able to travel with speed. Before he left, she put a large chunk of green K, she spotted on one of the tables at the back of the lab, in his pocket. "If you get close enough, use it on him but don't kill. Don't let anyone get in your way."

Intending to catch up to him as soon as she could ditch Tess, her plans were interrupted when Lois found her way back to the lab. Chloe isn't really surprised. When her cousin's on a rescue mission, logical and better judgment rarely factored in. John had become her latest honor-bound obligation and she'd see it through even if that meant going nose to nose with a woman she despised.

In a way, it also offered her the perfect out. She subdues Lois and Tess tells her to handle Lois. Chloe's only too happy to take Lois. Worried about what Tess would do to her if she left her. Every time Tess and Lois are alone together, her cousin ends up missing or on the verge of death. Tess walked away from the computer monitors toward to one end of the lab to a bank of server systems, presumably to retrieve the data she needed and then wipe the servers. With Tess' back to her, Chloe picked up the redK artificial heart and put it inside Lois' jacket, belting it to her body. Taking Lois, she dragged her out of the lab, along the corridor, into the sewer tunnel and back up a storm drain entrance to the street. Putting her cousin in her car, Chloe locked her in. Casting one last glance at her unconscious form, Chloe nods forcing herself to get back on mission. Lois was safe for now and hopefully, none the wiser.

Taking out her phone, Chloe saved the key code and dialed a number from memory. The good thing about the relationship she has with her trail blazing friend, is that he trusts her enough not to ask questions. To him it's just another job for the mission. And truthfully it is. They're keeping the world safe. For the world to be safe Clark can't tell Zod everything. She has to stop him before he does something he can't undo when he's had a chance to really think about the consequences. Thanking Bart for the speedy pick and delivery, Chloe trudged down into the caves. Corben was standing by the cave wall with the portal key. Taking it from him, she opened the doorway and lead them into the hidden chamber. Inserting the key into the table, they were both transported to the Fortress.

When the light reseeded, Chloe looked around. There was an eerie quiet inside the Fortress. The Arctic wind whistled through and she shivered. She never did remember to dress warmly enough. Hugging herself, she tentatively called out. "Clark?"

"You should not have come here, Chloe Sullivan."

Chloe looked up in time to see a large spear of ice falling in her direction.

John dove at her and they both hit the ground hard a few feet away from the shattering ice. A piece of ice knocked loose the emotion blocking chip and John reached to his neck feeling the naked metal contact point.

"You didn't say anything about this place wanting to kill you."

Chloe scrambled to her feet and reached for the key. "He must have installed some kind of defense system. It's never done that before."

"Well he's definitely not here, so I say we don't piss off the disembodied voice and get out of here."

More ice spears started falling and Chloe tired to run for the control console but was tripped up by the shifting foundations.

"You have interfered in Kal-El's destiny for the last time."

A strong blizzard took her and blew her back against the crystal ice wall. Chloe struggled but could feel her body seizing up from the cold. Before she could warn John to take the key and leave, she was trapped in an ice cocoon and her breath was forced from her lungs.

The burst of light faded and Clark felt the force of the wind immediately. He felt a little ridiculous in the skin tight suit, but it was remarkably fluid and breathable. His only discomfort was from the feeling of being over exposed, the mobility and temperature regulation the suit offered was amazing. It was as though he were wearing nothing at all, hence the constant reminder of how form fitting the outfit was. The boots were kind of neat too, very cushy, like walking on air. Squinting against the cold blast, Clark let the air bellow past him while he search for danger. The Fortress only reacted this way when there were intruders. A defensive mechanism. There was a shadowy force curling about a large new crystal formation against the wall. A man in a a hooded sweat jacket was trying to reach it, but it looked like his legs were trapped in ice. He x-rayed the formation saw a body trapped inside. The portal key was still in her hand. _Chloe._

"Kal-El, the crystal," Rokk shouted to him.

They too were fighting against the cold. Imra was already on her knees huddling for warmth. Rokk was standing in front of her, trying to shield her from the harsh winds. He was lifting his arms with great difficulty and Clark realized what he was trying to do. He could aim a pulse attack at the control center. It would give him enough time to insert the new crystal while the system was offline. Spears started cracking and falling all around them.

"Kal-El, the one you called your friend has corrupted the Fortress. You must enter the holographic chamber now and repair the damage to my programming."

The earth tremors intensified. More spears fell. Imra screamed and Rokk gathered magnetism, he aimed at the control crystals. Before the blast could leave his hands a burst of wind blew him back into one of the cave walls. A ice spear pieced through his chest and held him suspended. Blood trickled from his lips and his eyes widened, blinking rapidly, he called out to Clark. "What are you waiting for?"

Clark raced to the panel and plunged the crystal Brainiac 5 had given him into an open slot. More crystals shattered breaking away from the ceiling. The walls of the Fortress groaned.

"You will destroy them all Kal-El. Remove the crystal. Chloe Sullivan will die. All of your friends will die."

Clark looked over and noticed that Rokk and Imra were not where he'd seen them a second ago, but there was blood on the floor where Imra had been kneeling, and there was a blood stained crystal where Rokk had been.

There was a loud rumbling noise and the Fortress control console went dark before it came online again. The howling winds stopped but not before it carried all of the crumbling blackened crystals away on the breeze. Clark removed the now black crystal from the console and heated it until it shattered.

Warming the ice around the man's legs, he watched him move freely. When he turned, Clark faltered a step, the greenK heart in his chest glowing brightly.

"John Corben?"

"You're not going to try to blow me up again are you? I'd really prefer not to stab you with this," he said carefully. Clark looked stricken and John smirked a little. "I'm thinking we can forgo the act of violence. Now I'd help, but I'm thinking you're better equipped to handle things if I'm not here. Don't make me regret letting you rescue the girl."

"Why are you helping me?"

"I owed you one. Sometimes we don't know when we need saving. You helped me once, now we're even." John cracked the surface of the crystal holding Chloe and took the key. He put it on the pedestal and disappeared.

Clark cleared the rest of the broken crystal. "Rokk, Imra?" he called out searching for them as he scanned the large expanse of the Fortress while he blurred through the ice, heating it gently to get to Chloe. She finally slipped free from the icy prison and into his arms. She was wet, ashen colored and unresponsive. He took off his cape, which was actually a long cloak. He knew from his history sessions with the AI that it was an adult-sized Kryptonian ceremonial cloak and it bore his family symbol in gold on the back. He stripped off her outer layers of wet clothing before the melted icy water could seep through, and wrapped her in his cloak. Lifting her into his arms, he sped out of the Fortress, still calling for his friends. He knew that they were injured too and he wanted to find them before getting Chloe help. He found them a short distance outside.

Rokk sat hunched over Imra. He was rocking back and forth slowly, his head bowed. He had a big gaping wound in his back, that had a smaller exit wound on his chest. Icicles had formed around the openings. The blood was crystallizing.

Clark swallowed thickly. He scanned them both. Imra's heart was slowing and Rokk's was about a breath away from going into shock. He was running on adrenaline. "I'll be back for you both. Just hang on okay."

Rokk managed to nod once.

Clark was determined. From his memories, Kal-El couldn't fly as fast as he could run but flying would get him where he needed to go faster because he wouldn't have to dodge anything and he could go directly to his destination. He crouched low and felt his aura curling and expanding. He pushed away from the earth and took off into the sky, Chloe anchored securely in his arms.

He found Dr. Hamilton in his office at Metropolis General and the doctor wasted no time, hurrying them out to one of the treatment rooms. "I hate to leave her but there are others who still need my help. I'll be back. There are more injured."

Dr. Hamilton nodded his understanding and Clark blurred away, heading north. He found them and Rokk had stopped rocking. He'd been gone no more than four minutes. But four minutes when someone was already on the verge of hypothermia and had already sustained critical injury was too long.

"She's gone," Rokk hissed, his teeth chattering together.

A sharp pain tore through his chest, and he felt moisture well in his eyes. Clark didn't want to say it but wondered why they had risked coming back with him. Bending down, he picked up his friend who still held Imra's lifeless body in a vice like grip. He put his arms around them both and leaped into the sky. He flew back to the hospital where Dr. Hamilton had a team working on Chloe. There was a vacant room next door that he must have set up to receive the additional trauma patients. Clark set Rokk down, sitting him on one of the gurneys. Prying Imra from his arms, Clark laid her out on the other bed. Turning back to Rokk, he was about to call for Hamilton when the doctor came rushing in.

"Clark, we haven't been able to restart her heart. Her core temperature is not up to normal yet, so there's still a chance but...Clark?" Emil took in his expression and rigid posture.

Clark could tell he was wondering if he was going into shock himself. Which was laughable considering his invulnerability unless in the presence of green or blue kryptonite but he wasn't going to brush off the doctor's instinctual concern. Instead he merely gestured to Rokk. "Help him."

Clark turned and took the lab coat from the coat stand and put it on. It wasn't made for someone with his build and stretched tight across his shoulders, but at least it hung halfway down his legs and covered the crest that spanned across his chest. He exited the room and stopped at the doorway, watching the team working on Chloe. There were nurses piling on heating packs, and another putting in an IV. He saw the red cloak heaped on a chair in the corner. It seemed symbolic. He'd left what was important tossed to the side. Or Kal-El had. Now it was too late to change any of it. Well not too late to stop a war before it could begin, but too late to save the one person who'd been the driving force in embracing his destiny from the moment she'd learned he was different. Chloe had always believed he was destined for greatness. That he'd use his abilities to save the world. He had so much power. Why was it always that he could never really save the ones he loved the most? His father, Jor-El, Alicia, Kyla, Lana and now Chloe. Not again. The noise started like a wave. The force of it made him stumble. He put his hand out to steady himself and found it going through plaster. That hardly registered. He couldn't focus, couldn't tune it out.

A hand on his arm squeezed. "There's too much damage and not enough time. Clark, he's asking for you." The voice was only one of many tearing through his head but it sounded close. Like the person was right next to him. He turned his head with great effort. Dr. Hamilton was standing by his side. Clark forced his feet to move. He went back into the room and Rokk met his eyes.

He took a moment to just look at him. The younger man wasn't the same as he remembered. His beard was thicker and his hair longer, scruffier. He heard Dr. Hamilton shut the door to their room.

"I don't wanna... spend my last moments, being sliced open," Rokk coughed and let out a pained groan. He stared at the ceiling before looking at Clark again. He extended his hand with effort and Clark closed the distance between them and took his outstretched hand.

"I'm so sorry," he said brokenly.

"Don't be. There was always a risk." Rokk closed his eyes briefly before opening them again. They were glistening and he was losing his fight to appear strong. Tears slid down his face. "Upside, there will be a different future. Earth will welcome our kind and our future-selves will never know the constant state of fear or fight for survival that we knew. Just promise me that, Kal. That it wasn't all for nothing."

Clark nodded he squeezed Rokk's hand with enough pressure for it to be a strong human gesture of comfort, but it wasn't returned. Clark swallowed and more tears pooled in his eyes. His time traveling friend was gone. With unsteady fingers he removed the Legion ring from Rokk's fingers and did the same with Imra's. He closed his fist around the small bands of precious metal and crushed them to dust. Rokk was right. Because the future had been altered so irrevocably, the 31st century that they'd once known had never come to be. Aliens from countless galaxies had never come to Earth in their time. There had been no iconic hero that inspired change for the better. There had been no famed Legion of Superheroes. If he took them back right now, it would be no different. But he would work to make sure that things changed. After all they'd endured for him, it was the least he could do to honor their memory. He had to hope that someday he would meet this group of loyal, fearless, heroic teens again.

The door opened and Dr. Hamilton came in. He offered Clark a pair of hospital scrubs. "You're not very inconspicuous. This might help." He looked down at the boots. "Not many people take notice of footwear. At least they shouldn't considering their attention should be focused on our patient right now. We're hoping her heart will respond once she's warm. Thought you might want to be there for that."

Clark blurred into the clothing Emil held out, wearing it over the suit. He then followed him out and back to Chloe's room. The medial staff were so busy that none of them even acknowledged his presence in the room. He stood to the side and out of the way.

When one nurse hurried out of the room, possibly for more supplies, Clark took her place by Chloe's side and held her hand. It still felt too cold to him. He rubbed his large thumb over the surface of her hand. Willing warmth back into her skin.

"Extremities will be the last to show any change. It's the blood circulating that we want to warm, and it needs to a complete gradual warmth of the whole circulatory system. Any cold blood that makes it back to the heart once it's been warmed could stop it again."

Once all the packs were in place, the IV was in and the monitors were all set up, the staff left the room and only Clark and Dr. Hamilton remained. It was a waiting game now.

There was no cardiac rhythm or expiration. It was as though she were dead.

"Not dead, until she's warm and dead," Emil said tonelessly as though he'd read Clark's thoughts. "It's how we treat all hypothermia patients."

Clark closes his eyes and squeezed Chloe's hand again. How many times had he seen her like this? This would be the fourth and he still couldn't handle it. Thank God her meteor ability had disappeared. He didn't think he could handle ever seeing her 'die' for anyone else again. Granted not all of those deaths had been empathetic. One of them had been very real. He watched Chloe get stabbed by Alia again in his mind and he flinched at the memory.

"Come on Chlo, I just got back. I can't lose you. Not now," Clark said leaning close to her ear.

"Nurse Mitchell, Nurse Hilton, I'll handle things from here," Dr. Hamilton said.

"Yes, doctor."

"Dr. Wesley, draw two vials of blood and run a full spectrum analysis. I'll meet you in the lab in a few minutes."

The younger doctor opened one of the drawers and withdrew a needle. He took blood from Chloe's arm. It was dark and he didn't seem to get much before a look of frustration crossed his face. He withdrew the needle and tried her other arm. He managed to get a little more but only filled one vacutainer. "It's all I can get."

"Run it. We'll do another test when her temperature's up and we get her circulation back."

The doctor left. Emil checked her monitor readings again. Still no expiration, no heart beat. They'd intubated her and she was on a glucose IV solution but her face was still bloodless white and her lips a sickly blue.

Clark rested his forehead against her cold cheek. "I know you think I've done some pretty idiotic things over the past year, that I thought I knew better than everyone else, that I never cared to listen but I'm listening now. We have to work for peace, Chloe. It's the only way the future will survive. I know that's what most of the Kandorians want, but I was wrong to trust Zod. He's no different from what history says about him, just younger. He has powers now. It won't be easy, but I'll find away to stop him. We'll work together, all of us. Just come back."


End file.
